Lullabies and Love
by tinkerbelldetention101
Summary: Very short one-shot featuring Lily and Harry-a quick glimpse into a nightly routine in the Potter household.


**DISCLAIMER: I own neither the Harry Potter series nor the song "Old Toy Trains," which has been sung by various artists since its original writing in 1967 by Roger Miller. The version I have used is sung by Toby Keith. **

_It's odd what inspires stories. I have two sons, 2 ½ year old Kyle (Kaikai) and 8 month old Taryn Michael (Ryn). I sing both of them a different song at bed time every night. For some reason, Ryn likes "Old Toy Trains," and won't sleep unless I hold him up to look out the window and sing the bridge of the song to him. As I was doing this tonight, the inspiration for this story hit. I hope you enjoy it!_

**Lullabies and Love**

Bed time was Lily's favorite time. Not because it gave her some much needed alone time (or as alone as they ever got these days!) with her husband James, but because she loved the routine she went through with her little boy. At the moment, she was enjoying bathtime.

Eight month old Harry splashed as hard as his chubby little hands would allow, spraying water into his face and causing the toys floating about to dance on the surface of the water. He grinned a toothless grin and laughed, a sound of pure, innocent joy that struck a chord in his mother's heart.

"Mamamamama!" he cried, trying to clap his hands together. It was a skill he hadn't quite mastered yet, one which usually involved smacking himself in the face or missing all together. This time, he missed altogether.

Lily found herself laughing along with her son as she gently poured water over his head to remove the shampoo from his thin, dark hair. "Alright Harry, we're all done!" she said with a smile as she picked him up from the tub and wrapped him in his fluffy blue towel. He smiled up at her, his green eyes shining.

Minutes later found Harry dried, diapered, and dressed in his blue puppy pajamas. Lily held him close as they entered his bedroom. Dominated by the normal wizard nursery items, Muggle-born Lily had insisted on purchasing a few Muggle nursery items as well. After all, Harry was a half-blood. Over his bed, a mobile from a shop in Diagon Alley adjusted itself to Harry's whims while a ceramic duck and lamb made by Lily's grandmother many years before hung on the wall behind his bed. On his dresser, a Muggle Noah's Ark nightlight softly illuminated the darkness, while magically created spots of lights danced across the walls, the colors changing from green to blue to yellow, much to the amusement of the infant in her arms.

Carrying him to the large window as was their nightly custom, Lily pushed open the powder blue curtains and turned Harry in her arms so he could look across the snowy ground below. As they gazed outside at a world caught between winter and spring, Lily began to softly (and only slightly off-key, thank you very much, James!) sing Harry's favorite lullaby.

"_Little toy trains and little toy tracks,"_ she began as Harry rubbed his hand across his eyes, the first indication he knew it was bedtime. _"Little toy drums, coming from a sack, carried by a man dressed in white and red…my little boy, don't you think it's time you were in bed?"_

Again and again, she sang the words to him until, finally, he had fallen asleep against her shoulder. Smiling, she moved towards his crib and gently lay him down as the mobile above started to turn, the melody of his favorite song quietly emanating from it. She bent to kiss his forehead, taking care not to let her hair brush his face lest it disturb him.

"Good night, my little love," she whispered as she turned to look back at him from the doorway.

_There you have it: short, sweet (I hope…), and to the point. Sorta. LOL I welcome criticism, but please be polite about it. I am currently working on revamping a multi-chapter fic I once had posted (I took it down as the writing no longer flowed together-the results of having started it at the age of 15 and now being in my 20's), but, for those who have read the profile and understand what's going on, I don't have a lot of time on my hands. I don't enjoy writing short fics like this, though in the past years it's about all I've had time for. I hope to re-post my multi-chap fic in the near future; until then, please enjoy the one-shots I'm sure will come to me after the kids are asleep! _


End file.
